Python | Check if a list exists in given list of lists

Last Updated : 27 Mar, 2019

Given a list of lists, the task is to check if a list exists in given list of lists.

Input :
lst = [[1, 1, 1, 2], [2, 3, 4], [1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]]
list_search = [4, 5, 6]

Output:  True

Input :
lst = [[5, 6, 7], [12, 54, 9], [1, 2, 3]]
list_search = [4, 12, 54]

Output:  False

Let’s discuss certain ways in which this task is performed.

Method #1: Using Counter
The most concise and readable way to find whether a list exists in list of lists is using Counter.

# Python code find whether a list  
# exists in list of list. 
import collections 
  
# Input List Initialization 
Input = [[1, 1, 1, 2], [2, 3, 4], [1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]] 
  
# List to be searched 
list_search = [2, 3, 4] 
  
# Flag initialization 
flag = 0 
  
# Using Counter 
for elem in Input: 
    if collections.Counter(elem) == collections.Counter(list_search) : 
        flag = 1
      
# Check whether list exists or not.     
if flag == 0: 
    print("False") 
else: 
    print("True") 

Output:

True

Method #2: Using in

# Python code find whether a list  
# exists in list of list. 
  
# Input List Initialization 
Input = [[1, 1, 1, 2], [2, 3, 4], [1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]] 
  
# List to be searched 
list_search = [1, 1, 1, 2] 
  
# Using in to find whether  
# list exists or not 
if list_search in Input: 
    print("True") 
else: 
    print("False") 

Output:

True

Method #3: Using any

# Python code find whether a list  
# exists in list of list. 
  
# Input List Initialization 
Input = [[1, 1, 1, 2], [2, 3, 4], [1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]] 
  
# List to be searched 
list_search = [4, 5, 6] 
  
# Using any to find whether  
# list exists or not 
if any(list == list_search for list in Input): 
    print("True") 
else: 
    print("False") 
     

Output:

True

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